Washington Celebrates the Class of 2025

A mix of elation and concern marked the College's 242nd commencement ceremony.

Under a bright spring sky, Washington College celebrated the 209 members of the graduating Class of 2025. The event was a vibrant culmination of years of hard work, discovery, and community building, filled with inspiring speeches and heartfelt congratulations. While the broader political and economic landscape cast a shadow of concern for the first class to have attended courses in-person all four years since the Covid-19 pandemic, the day was primarily marked by joyous celebration of academic achievement and the promise of new beginnings. 

President Mike Sosulski warmly welcomed the graduates and their families, acknowledging the unique journey they shared. “We are celebrating your hard work, the experience you have gained, and the knowledge you have amassed,” he said. “Commencement is famously a new beginning, a ceremony marking the start of your life after college… the work you do in the coming decades may well grow from the work you started right here,” Sosulski affirmed, encouraging the newly minted grads to continue innovating and sharing their insights with the world. 

The senior class speaker, Claire Olivia Garretson, delivered a poignant address that reflected on the journey that brought her and her classmates to this pivotal moment. Recalling the many colleges she toured when considering where to attend, she shared that her Washington tour guide described the student body as ambitious, caring, and a family -  a description that would come to be the deciding factor in her choice to call Washington College home for the next four years. She shared that the description remains the best way to characterize the institution and her graduating class. “Our ambition will always set us apart,” Garretson emphasized, urging her peers to have the “courage to be ambitious, courage to care, and to keep showing up.” 

The ceremony’s keynote address was delivered by Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent, who received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree. Karl shared a personal connection to the College, recalling attending his brother’s commencement decades prior. Karl drew upon his extensive career covering pivotal moments in history and recounted his early aspirations as a journalist, fueled by witnessing the Tiananmen Square protests through the lens of American reporters while he himself was an undergrad. Reflecting on his experiences covering seven sitting U.S. presidents, Karl emphasized the importance of a free press, noting the audience’s applause when referencing the principle that a president “can’t, or shouldn’t be able to, ban a reporter from a newsroom because he doesn’t like a question.”  

Throughout his speech, Karl underscored the vital role of journalists as truthtellers and the role that those who choose to speak the truth have to play in a functioning society. In a powerful message to the graduating class, Karl urged them, “Don’t believe those that tell you there is no more truth. That’s a lie. Stand firm in your principles. Be strong on what is right, but be open to the possibility that you are wrong. Expose yourself to those who criticize you. Be kind to your friends and your enemies. Do good things – when no one is around to give you credit. Finally, everything in moderation, including moderation.” 

While the keynote address touched on significant societal issues, the graduates and their families also celebrated the personal achievements and bright futures ahead.  

Avery Elizabeth Thomas, a business management major who earned Magna cum laude, expressed her joy, saying, “It’s really nice to look back on our accomplishments and enjoy this day with my friends.” She noted that she appreciated the close-knit campus Washington offered her and the challenging professors who prepared her for a career in wealth management and future graduate studies.  

Music major David Londres, excited to become a studio engineer, credited the small campus for helping him quickly find his friend group and for giving him the chance to help launch the Open Studio Project,. “I really enjoyed meeting new and local musicians and relating and working with them. It was a learning experience for both sides,” he shared. Londres earned Magna cum laude and was a recipient of the Garry E. Clarke Performance Award.  

Noah Gentry, a political science and philosophy double major, while acknowledging the tougher job market influenced by recent political shifts, also recognized the value of his Washington College connections, stating, “The opportunities that we have to make connections and network help us to be set up for success.” Gentry plans to spend the summer looking for a job and hopes his internships at the Maryland Department of Labor and in the state general assembly will give him an edge in that search. Gentry earned Summa cum laude and was awarded the Department of Philosophy & Religion Award, as well as the Holstein Prize for Ethics. 

Concerns about the broader political and environmental landscape were voiced by some family members as well. Jan Bisco-Werner, mother of environmental science graduate Eli Bisco-Werner, while exuberantly proud of her son, noted, “Right now, with the political and environmental climate I know that is going to be tough, but I hope he can see a bright future ahead of him and continue to shine and make the world a better place.”  

For most family members in attendance the day was one of pure joy.  

Robin Cherry, aunt to graduate Marcelina Lewis, exclaimed, “It’s just wonderful. Whatever she wants to do in this life, she’ll be able to do it. She will go on to do great things for this world.”  Lewis received the Department of Environmental Science & Studies Research Potential Award. 

Sergio Castillo, father of Sergio José Castillo Umana, was beaming as the procession of graduates got underway, stating simply of the biology major and recipient of the Pre-Health Professions Program Pre- Pharmacy Award, “We are so proud. We’re speechless because of him.”  

As the ceremony concluded, the Class of 2025, carrying with them the knowledge, friendships, and spirit of Washington College, stepped forward into a world filled with both challenges and opportunities, ready to shape their own futures and contribute to the broader society. 

Washington College Highest Honors and Prizes    

announced during Commencement   

 Senior Awards  

• Jane Huston Goodfellow Memorial Prize - Vani Chetan Chauhan and Amy Elizabeth MacNair 

• Gold Pentagon Award - Stephen Leroy Hook, III 

• Sophie Kerr Prize – Skyler “Sky” Lynn Abruzzo 

• Louis L. Goldstein, Class of '35 Award - Jordan E. Hyde 

• Eugene B. Casey Medal - Katherine Anne Esposito 

• Henry W.C. Catlin, Class of 1894 Medal - Catharine Lauren Manos 

• Clark-Porter Medal - Stephen Leroy Hook, III and Zachary “Zach” Hunter Affeldt 

• George Washington Medal and Award - Vani Chetan Chauhan 
   

Faculty Awards 

• Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher Award - Rebecca Fox of the Department of Environmental Science 
• Carolyn Emory Golding '74 Junior Faculty Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award - Suyog Shresthra of the Department of Physics 
• Stephen T. Golding '72 Faculty Leadership Award - Caddie Putnam Rankin of the Department of Business Management  
• Gold Pentagon Award – Mary Alice Ball, Dean of Library and Academic Technology